Perhaps the single most important tip that anyone considering betting on the MLB (Major League Baseball) needs to know it is that you cannot hope to bet successfully on it unless you know a bit about the sport and the league. This can be hard for people outside of the US, because coverage of the MLB is quite restricted, but whether it is watching games online, reading up about the form and injuries for each team, or playing an MLB game at an online casino, there are ways that you can develop your knowledge.

Once you have started to do this you also need to consider whether you want to bet on one of the real favorites, meaning a lower odds bet with concomitantly lower winnings, or a bit more of an outside, higher odds bet – which would mean a higher payout if the bet proved successful. An example of this in action would be those who bet on the Baltimore Ravens, who had odds of 22/1 in last season’s NFL, as the Ravens ultimately went on to win the Super Bowl. This is where you need the background knowledge of the teams, to be able to spot the sides with the strengths to be able to upset the odds.

It can be quite a bit of work for those outside America to develop this knowledge, but one of the more fun ways of introducing yourself to the MLB is to play a slots game like Hot Shot at an online casino. To tryDownload here!.This game features reels surrounded by a green baseball field, bats and balls and will let you hear the murmurs of the watching crowd (which turn to roars if you secure a winning reel with the gold cup scatter symbol in it). Thus it should have lots of appeal to those keen to learn more about baseball, but it will also appeal to slots fans thanks to the $2000 maximum cash jackpot, and the cheap play (coins as low as $0.25), meaning that Hot Shot is a game with something for everyone.

There’s obviously this AL MVP debate going on around baseball centered on Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout. The Tigers and their fans are obviously going to support their guy, and you can’t really fault them for that, but in an MLive piece by Chris Iott, Leyland was quoted implying that the team wouldn’t consider a Cabrera-for-Trout swap.

Leyland’s quote:

"I will not use the player's name, but according to the sabermetrics there is a player that is better than Miguel Cabrera. So when the guy that gave me the sabermetrics told me that, I said, 'Well, should we trade Miguel Cabrera for the player you're talking about?' He said, 'Oh, no, you can't do that.'

"And I said, 'Well, then you don't believe in sabermetrics. And neither do I.' "

There’s actually three separate questions at play here that we should separate out first. (1) Who’s the better player, (2) who’s having the better season, and (3) who would you rather have on your team.

Detroit’s win coupled with Chicago’s loss on Wednesday night meant a sizeable uptick in the Tigers’ chances to earn a spot in the postseason festivities. Two games back with 14 games to play is still a large gap, but it’s one that isn’t impossible to bridge. We could all feel that the goal of a Division Crown was more attainable after last night, but Cool Standings and Baseball Prospectus put numbers on it.

According to Cool Standings, the Tigers have a 30.7% chance of making the playoffs (broken down that’s a 27.2% chance of winning the division and a 3.6% chance of a Wild Card berth). That’s up nearly ten full percentage points from a day ago. So pretty much this: flip a coin twice. Did you get two heads? If so, the Tigers are going to win the division. Didn’t get two heads? Well there’s still about a 5% chance they get in anyway.

Baseball Prospectus is slightly more bullish on the Tigers’ chances for October. According to their playoff odds report, Detroit has a 34.9% chance of playing postseason baseball (29.4% to win the division and 5.5% for a Wild Card spot). Yesterday’s results meant a boost of just over 11% to the Tigers’ overall playoff odds. Roll a die. Did you get a one or a two? Then the Tigers are playing extra baseball. Did you get a three or higher? Well then, hopefully 2013 is a good year.

You know you have a special pitcher on your hands when his final line reads 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO and your response to his outing is “just didn’t quite have it today”. We’ve seen Justin Verlander truly struggle a few times lately (notably rough games versus Kansas City and Los Angeles), and while this certainly wasn’t that, it did seem like he had to labor his way to finish his six innings. The Oakland hitters didn’t record a large number of hits, nor did they draw a notable number of walks, but they did a good job of working the count and fouling off pitches to elevate his pitch count early in the game.

Had it been any other pitcher on the staff – save the recent (if healthy) version of Max Scherzer – we would have raved about his “gutty” outing, but it’s a disappointment when Verlander “only” lasts six innings while being unable to impose his will on the opposing batters. For 90% of the season we’ve been used to an automatic eight innings of zero-to-two run ball.

But I must suppose that even Justin Verlander can’t be a full-fledged cyborg, so one must accept a certain number of rough outings. I just vote that we see this type of laborious effort rather than the nine-runs allowed kind. Those kind somehow feel less fun.

There’s no doubt that the Tigers are in “must win” mode from here on out, and the team certainly played like that was the case on Tuesday night. Detroit pummeled Oakland by a 12-2 margin despite losing starting pitcher Max Scherzer after only two innings due to what was dubbed shoulder fatigue. Scherzer was immediately sent for an MRI which showed no damage, but the team will play it safe and shut him down for a few days before re-evaluating his condition.

It goes without saying that the Tigers can’t count on making the playoffs – or making any sort of run in the playoffs – without a healthy Max Scherzer who’s been lights out for a stretch. It doesn’t appear as though he’ll be making his next scheduled start, but I don’t think that’s been officially ruled out at this point either. His rest-of-season playing time may depend on how competitive the team stays in the division race.

For the second straight day the Tigers took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning, and for the second straight day they ended up squandering the lead en route to a one-run loss.

In a micro sense, the two losses were a near-killer for the team’s playoff chances and a huge disappointment. In a more macro view, the team split the four-game series with Chicago and took the three-game series with Cleveland which is nearly all you could expect from a seven game stretch on the road. Either way, it leaves the Tigers three games out with sixteen games to play – not an easy gap to bridge.

The Tigers have a relatively easy schedule ahead – with the caveat that “easy” games down the stretch against teams such as the Royals haven’t been easy for this club to convert into wins in past years – so a 10-6 or 11-5 record isn’t completely out of the question. But even if Detroit was to finish up 11-5 (that’s one loss per remaining series), they would need to hope for an 8-8 record from the White Sox just to force a tie-break game. Needless to say, each loss from here on out will cut significantly into their comeback chances.

Hopefully the #DOOM nightmare is over for the Tigers. We’ve been saying all along that the schedule favors Detroit’s chances for a strong finish if they could only hang close in the AL Central race. But we’re well past the point in the year where hanging close means three or four games. All they have to do is take care of business versus the Twins, Indians, and Royals – some of the worst competition in all of baseball.

That’s all.

But they hadn’t been able to do it lately. Entering Friday, the Tigers had won only six of their previous fifteen games. Included in that was a 1-5 record versus the Indians and Royals. Not strong. Detroit, of course, had taken care of business against the White Sox (they’re 8-1 versus Chicago since the All-Star break), but they weren’t going to stand a chance in winning the division if they couldn’t beat anyone else.

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